"My sons experience"

My son was admitted for a routine operation, the staff were really welcoming and we were quickly seen by the surgeon and anethnatist. I feel when it came time for my son to be put to sleep he was not given any time to get used to his surroundings or be made comfortable but rather it was as quick as they could to put him to sleep. The first cannula failed which was very traumatic. My son did eventually go off to sleep and the anethnatist was lovely and came to find me during my sons op to see that I was ok and offer me a scrub top as I was covered in blood. The member of staff promised to get me to my son ASAP as I was understandable anxious and just wanted to be with him. The theatre staff made 3 calls to the ward asking for me as my son was distressed but the nurse in charge forgot all 3 times despite the fact there were nurses not doing much and cleaning. I met my son coming out the lift where he was understandably distressed, crying and looking for his mummy. When my son who is 2 was at his most vulnerable and needing his mum the most, I was not there! My son may not remember that however as a parent I will never forget, nor will I forget the terrified look in his eyes when he was eventually brought down to me.

A member of staff was horrified at what had gone on as they knew we had a previous bad experience in a different hospital, another member of staff also came to see me to say they had tried their best to contact me and to let me know my son had had a small allergic reaction during surgery which made me feel even worse that I wasn't with him as he woke, the poor soul must have been terrified.

We were then discharged that day as I just wanted to be alone with my son and felt very let down. I was told if I had ANY problems to contact the ward and they would have him in to check on him. Two days after his operation he had stopped drinking and was very distressed so I called the ward asking to take him in, the nurse I spoke to told me I needed to take him to A&E despite the fact we had 48hour ward access. They also told me that pain was normal and my son should just get on with it. I decided to take him to my local hospital where he was instantly admitted because of the pain and put on an IV drip for dehydration. I am sure when my sons consultant finds out he won't be best impressed as he was adamant I would go straight to the ward if we had problems or concerns. I am left really upset by the whole ordeal.